August 21, ESPN/Twitter:NHL confirms this rule change: Regulation/OT wins (shootout Ws EXCLUDED) now will be first way to break ties in the standings....Columbus GM Scott Howson had proposed this tie-breaker rule change/adjustment at the GM Meetings in March.

Between this and the roundabout praise (as the Globe and Mail's James Mirtle noted) for extending overtime to include 3-on-3 play down the line to further de-emphasize shootout play, the NHL's actually going in the right direction here...

Update 8:32 PM: Per Hradek:

August 21, ESPN: The league will change its regular-season tiebreaking system for 2010-11, an NHL source told ESPN. The
first tiebreaker will be a combination of regulation time and overtime
victories, with shootout wins excluded. In the past, the first
tiebreaker had been total wins of any kind.

Columbus GM Scott
Howson proposed the change at the NHL general managers meetings in
Florida last March. The league's Board of Governors and Competition
Committee both voted to implement the change for the upcoming season.

The league is making the adjustment to give more weight to victories gained in some form of team play, rather than by shootout.

Update 2:02 AM, again, from Hradek and Red Wings GM Ken Holland:

August 21, ESPN: "I'm very happy about the change," said Red Wings GM Ken Holland, who'd
been a vocal proponent for just such a move. "This puts more emphasis on
the 60 [or 65] minutes."